JAMMU: A day after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan asked the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) people to wait for his call to cross the Line of Control (LoC) towards the Indian side, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik said the PoK people would not come to J&K on his call, but would demand integration with India after witnessing the high level of development here.

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Tribune News Service

Jammu, September 14

A day after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan asked the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) people to wait for his call to cross the Line of Control (LoC) towards the Indian side, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik said the PoK people would not come to J&K on his call, but would demand integration with India after witnessing the high level of development here.

“The people of PoK will not come to J&K on your call, but will come here when they will see this state as an example of development under the rule of the Narendra Modi-led government in India,” Malik said.

He was speaking on the occasion of the e-foundation laying ceremony of a cancer institute in Jammu and e-inauguration of 196 health and wellness centres across J&K at a function held at the convention centre on Saturday evening.

“If we are able to achieve the high standard of development, the people in the PoK would cross the LoC and demand integration with India,” he added.

Earlier in the day, the Governor while inaugurating Government Medical College (GMC), Kathua, said that he had done more work in the last one year than any elected government could do.

Malik also claimed that he had managed to change the image of the gubernatorial post which, in public’s view, does nothing for the public but only provides rest to the post occupant during his/her tenure.

“In the eyes of the country, the Governor is a person who plays golf and does nothing for the public. He/she just rests during governorship. But with the amount of work that we’ve done in the last one year, I think even an elected government can’t match us,” Malik said.

The Governor also blamed the Kashmir-based political class for deliberately delaying the start of the prestigious Shahpur Kandi project on the Ravi, saying “They did not allow the execution of the agreement with Punjab because they had soft corner towards Pakistan.”

“After the completion of the Shahpur Kandi project, a collaboration of the J&K and Punjab governments, we will be able to stop the flow of water towards Pakistan. Earlier, we were unable to stop water entering Pakistan as the Shahpur Kandi project could not get nod due to the soft corner of the Kashmiri leadership towards Pakistan,” Malik said.

“We cleared all hurdles within 30 minute for starting this historical project which had been delayed for the last 40 years,” he said.

The Governor also released the policy document on the roadmap for reducing the infant mortality rate (IMR) to single digit by 2022 in the state.

The people of PoK will not come to J&K on your call, but will come here when they will see this state as an example of development under the rule of the Narendra Modi-led government in India. —Satya Pal Malik, Governor

SRINAGAR: The State Administrative Council (SAC), which met under the chairmanship of Governor Satya Pal Malik, has approved the policy document for setting up of two Medi-Cities in Jammu and Kashmir along with identification of land by the Revenue Department for the purpose.

SRINAGAR: Normal life remained affected in the Kashmir valley for the 42nd consecutive day on Sunday following abrogation of Article 370 as most of shops remained shut and public transport was off the roads.

DODA: A day after an Insas rifle was snatched by suspected militants from the PSO of the PDP district president of Kishtwar, Sheikh Nasir, the police have detained three persons for questioning into the incident.

JAMMU/LEH: In a step to achieve its aim to get the unbanked and under-banked areas to have better access to financial services, the State Bank of India (SBI) today opened its branch in Diskit village, Nubra Valley, in Leh district.

SRINAGAR: With schools completely shut for the last 40 days, uncertainty looms large over the holding of annual exams in Kashmir schools as students say that they have just completed the 40 per cent of their syllabus and there are hardly any signs of schools opening soon.

JAMMU: Of the total 43,584 students, only 13,968 qualified the Higher Secondary Part-II biannual examination, 2019, of the summer zone (Jammu division), the results of which was declared by the J&K Board of School Education ((JKBOSE) on Friday.

JAMMU: Making trade much smoother for the apple growers of the state, the Department of Horticulture, Planning and Marketing has fixed prices for apple according to the fruit grade and type of packaging material under the Market Intervention Scheme.

JAMMU: The traders and transporters of Jammu, who had called for Jammu bandh on Monday over the “non-serious attitude” of the state administration regarding their demands, deferred their call on the request of the district administration here this evening.

NEW DELHI: Claiming that the people of Kashmir have expressed “total trust deficit” with the Centre for its “unilateral decisions” with respect to Articles 370 and 35(A), senior leaders of Welfare Party of India (WPI), who recently visited the Valley, said, normalcy in the state “can only be achieved through dialogue”, which the government should initiate forthwith.

NEW DELHI: The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) has sought to intervene in the petition filed in the Supreme Court by Kashmir Times Executive Editor Anuradha Bhasin seeking removal of restrictions imposed on working of the media after scrapping Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.

KATHUA:A day after the J&K Police arrested three Jaish (JeM) militants from Lakhanpur in Kathua, the security agencies are reported to have learnt that the militants were in constant touch with another militant in Pakistan, till they were handed over arms and ammunition in Batala, Punjab.

JAMMU: Even as scientists across the nation are worried about rising desertification, the authorities in J&K are adopting a casual approach in retrieving over 50,000 acres of forest land encroached upon by ‘influential’ people.

DODA: Even as the government is focusing on directly buying apples from growers in Kashmir since the communication clampdown has increased growers’ problems, no one is focusing on apple growers of Chenab region.

JAMMU: Displaced Kashmiri Hindus have urged the Central Government to constitute a committee to safeguard the religious places in the Valley and retrieve temple properties encroached upon by the land mafia in the last three decades.

FRIDAY: The Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference (JKPC) has filed a writ petition before the Supreme Court challenging the scrapping of the Article 370 through Presidential orders and has termed it an “illegal and unconstitutional exercise” by the Central government.

JAMMU: The telecom sector of Jammu and Kashmir has lost more than Rs 90 crore in last one month, as the mobile Internet services have been snapped across the state and calling has also been barred in Kashmir valley since August 5—the day Article 370 was abrogated.

SRINAGAR: The continued lockdown, restrictions and communication blockade for the past 39 days has led to more consumption of petrol as compared to diesel as public transport has been off the roads since the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5.

JAMMU: In a far-reaching decision, Governor Satya Pal Malik today ordered that all matters relating to the irregularities or fraudulent implementation of the Jammu and Kashmir State Lands (Vesting of Ownership to Occupants) Act, 2001 be investigated in detail by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

JAMMU: To create awareness about drug menace in society, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), Katra, organised a talk by Sujith Kumar, DIG, Udhampur-Reasi Range, where he addressed the students of the university on the subject "Awareness about the menace of drugs".

JAMMU: With Urban Local Bodies Department (ULBs) in the state about to complete a year, the BJP-led Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) has come under the fire for its alleged non-performance and failure to address the grievances of people.

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NEEDED: Sacred Games-2 may have left many of its diehard fans not too happy with the climax, but audience, especially in North India, must be tickled pink at the depiction of its lead protagonist, a turbaned Sikh hero being played by Saif Ali Khan.